The bare facts are these: the Notre Dame boys shelled Norridge Ridgewood 8-0 to collect the Class 2A title in the most lopsided state championship soccer match in IHSA history.

That led to the 26-1 Irish’s No. 4 national ranking in the final fall poll conducted by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), behind only unbeaten teams from Cleveland, Ohio; Carmichael, Calif.; and Hyattsville, Md.

In fourth-year Notre Dame coach Mike Bare’s opinion, those are among the factors that make the 2010 Irish "the greatest sports team ever to come out of the Peoria area."

Since Bare’s declaration at an assembly in November at the high school, Irish senior forward Vince Cicciarelli has been named to the NSCAA’s 77-player all-America team.

Schmitt, a 5-foot-8 left-hander with a truly amazing arm, was almost untouchable in the three years he pitched for Manual High School.

Possessor of a blazing fast ball with great movement and a fine curve, Schmitt hit his prep peak in 1950 when he posted a 13-0 record on a Manual team that went 25-0, tossing a one-hitter and fanning 17 in the state championship game against LaGrange.

In his final prep season his statistics were astounding: 162 strikeouts, just 23 hits allowed, five runs allowed and only 25 walks in 80 innings.

Signed by the St. Louis Browns shortly after leaving high school (he later was property of the Baltimore Orioles after the move of the Browns east), he pitched seven seasons of minor league baseball.

Starting with Wichita Falls of the Class B Big State League in 1951, he pitched in the Three-I League, the Western League, the Texas League, the Pacific Coast League, the Sally League and the Eastern League.

After the 1957 season, he retired from pro ball and went into coaching, leading Limestone into a state tournament and also pitching for a dozen more seasons in the Sunday Morning League.

He is still on the faculty at Limestone High School and has been assistant baseball coach since suffering a stroke a few years ago.